A War Worth Fighting
by EinsamCat
Summary: How do you know what's worth fighting for?
1. Chapter 1

Five men sat around their dying fire in the cold, telling their stories of how they ended up fighting a war in the unforgiving tundra known as Russia.

"Let's get to know each other a little. Hell, if we're going to die together, we may as well know a little bit about each other," said a blonde British man with almost comically oversized eyebrows.

"Hey big guy, vhy don't you start?" said an albino, seemingly German by his accent, as he gestured to a large bespectacled blonde. The other men nodded in agreement.

"M' name's Berwald," the blonde mumbled.

"Why ya here, dude?" inquired a young blonde who also wore glasses and had an unruly cowlick in the front of his head.

"T' protect m' wife."

"Like, what's her name?" asked an effeminate man with neck-length blonde hair and green eyes.

"Tina."

"That's, like, totally adorable! My name's Feliks and I'm here 'cuz, like, my parents sent me. They totally said it would make me more manly and stuff."

"How old are you, Feliks?" the Brit asked.

"I'm, like, 19."

"Ah. How old are you, Berwald?"

"'M 21."

" I see. Well, my name is Arthur. I'm 23 years old and I'm here to fight for my country."

"You're from the land of fancy people?" the albino guessed, snickering.

Arthur tossed the albino a miffed look. "If by 'the land of fancy people' you mean England, then yes. And that's my idiot American brother," he said gesturing to the blonde with the cowlick and glasses.

"I'm not an idiot, dude!" he yelled at Arthur. Turning to the others, he introduced himself. "I'm Alfred, I'm 19, and I'm here because I'm the hero!"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Idiot. . ." he muttered under his breath.

"So you save zhe most awesome for last?" grinned the albino. "Okay zhen. I'm Gilbert und I'm 23. I'm here because it's vhat mein family does. Mein bruder is a pilot und mein grandfazher vas a general."

"Good." said Arthur. "Let's get last names in the case the that we would have to report each other. . . missing or fallen."

His teammates looked at him and Alfred said "Geez, dude, you don't have to make it sound so depressing."

Arthur ignored him and continued. " Go in the same order you introduced yourselves in." He nodded at Berwald to begin.

"Oxenstierna."

"Lukasiewicz."

"Kirkland."

Alfred pumped his arm and yelled "Jones!"

"Beilschmidt."

"Oh, dude, was your grandpa Aldrich Beilschmidt?" asked Alfred excitedly.

Gilbert looked surprised. "Ja. How do know about him?"

Alfred grinned and pushed up his glasses. "I like history."


	2. Chapter 2

"Run, you wankers!" Arthur yelled at his team members.

Gunshots could be heard all around them and enemy troops streamed through the nearby trees. Each man ran as fast as he ever had in his life, fleeing the dark shadow of death. Berwald suddenly stopped dead in his tracks as bullets flew around them, gripping his rifle so tightly that his knuckles turned white as he stared into the trees intently.

"Bervald! Vhat are you doing?! You're going to get killed! Let's go!" Gilbert yelled.

Berwald didn't budge. A man with wild blonde hair emerged from the trees and stopped a few feet in front of Berwald.

"M'thias. . ."

"Berwald! Didn't expect to see you in these parts!" he said in an overly cheerful tone.

" What're y' doin', M'thias?"

Mathias looked around. "Well, I guess I'm tryin' not to die."

"Why're y' fightin' fer them?"

Pain flashed through Mathias' eyes and he looked away.

"Weren't y' 'spose t'be home with Luka t' help with th' baby?" Berwald asked.

"He took her," Mathias said softly.

Berwald's sea-green eyes narrowed in anger. "Who's he?"

"Some big Russian guy," Mathias said. " He said if I didn't fight in his place he'd kill Luka and the baby. He had weird purple eyes, if that helps. Find him, please!" Mathias grasped his brother's hand in desperation as he looked deep into Berwald's eyes. "Please. I have to keep them safe."

Berwald nodded, and squeezed his brother's hand. "I'll do it." Suddenly he heard a familiar scream, accompanied by Arthur's bellowed "NOOOOO!"

Berwald looked at Mathias. "Go! Help your team," Mathias said, and roughly shoved him away. Berwald nodded, then charged toward the rest of his team ran up to Berwald as soon as he saw him and started freaking out.

"Berwald! Like, you gotta help!" Feliks shrieked, clinging to the taller man's coat.

It was then that he saw Alfred lying on the ground, his uniform bloody as well as the snow around him. Arthur's uniform was also full of blood, presumably from carrying Alfred.

"Oh my gosh, I was, like, so scared! I thought you, like, got killed 'cuz you didn't come back and then Alfred got shot, and, like-"

"SHUT UP!" Arthur roared.

Everyone ceased talking, frightened by the mask of rage and sadness Arthur's face had become.

" I can't lose him." Tears slid down Arthur's face. "We can't lose him. He's my baby brother." Quietly he continued. "If I lost him here, Matthew would never forgive me."

Seeing the questioning looks of the other men he continued. "We have another brother, Matthew. Alfred's twin, actually. Those two were always close. Dad left shortly after we were born. I was 4 when he left. We lived in England, but only because of our dad. Mum was was 6 months pregnant with Alfred and we had no other family in England. We moved back to America to be with our family when Alfred was born. Mum tried her best to take care of us, but then Matthew was born and three boys are a lot to handle, especially on her own. But Mum always loved us and tried to do her best for us, even when things were rough. She died in a car crash when I was 17 and Matthew and Alfred were 13. Alfred got in trouble with the law, Matthew became depressed and isolated himself more than he already did, and I went back to England to study abroad. Alfred and I kept in touch and he told me what was happening at home. I came back when I was 21 and joined the military. I was originally going to join the Navy, but Alfred told me he wanted to join the Army. He was only 17 at the time, so we waited until his birthday and we enlisted together. Matthew was always the soft-hearted one of the family, so he was working as a head chef at a pancake house. Each other is all we have, so I can't lose my baby brother."

Arthur took a deep breath and harshly wiped his eyes. "Where's the nearest medical station? Unless any of you is a doctor. . ."

"Zhere is one a few miles east of here," Gilbert said.

"Then let us move swiftly. Alfred hasn't got long, and neither have we. Night will come quickly, and we will most likely die if we stay out here in hostile territory," Arthur replied.

The Brit hefted his brother over his shoulder and started to walk to the east. Alfred groaned in pain as the gunshot wound in his abdomen pressed against Arthur's back.

"I won't lose you," Arthur whispered fiercely into Alfred's ear.


	3. Chapter 4

Night fell as the men trudged through the snow.

"Gilbert, I thought you said it was only, like, a few miles," Feliks complained.

"Mein bruder vas stationed a little vays from vhere ve vere und I know zhere is a medical station near him," Gilbert explained.

"Y' talk 'bout yer brother 'lot," Berwald said.

"Ja."

"Yer close?"

"Ja."

"Tell us 'bout him."

"Uh, vhat do you vant to know?"

Arthur spoke. "Name, for starters."

"I totally want to know what he looks like!" Feliks said.

"I want t' know why yer so close t' each other. It seems like y' really respect him."

Arthur stumbled and fell to his knees. He barely had enough strength to stand back up, let alone carry his brother.

"It's just a little vays yet," Gilbert said as he helped Arthur up. "Bervald, can you carry Alfred?"

The tall blonde nodded affirmatively.

"Good. Let's keep going und I'll tell you about mein bruder."

The men had taken several steps before Gilbert began to speak.

"I'll answer your guys' qvestions first. His name is Ludvig. He's tall, about Bervald's height. He looks a lot like Bervald, actually. He's blonde, alvays has his hair slicked back. He's got blue eyes. Uh. . . he looks pretty serious most of zhe time. Except for vhen he's vizh Feliciana. Zhat's his fiance." Gilbert smiled. "She's one of zhe only people zhat can get him to smile. He proposed to her before ve left for zhe var. Zhey're getting married vhen he comes back, so I check up on him from time to time to make sure he's safe. He's got someone he loves und who loves him to return to, so he can't die out here." Gilbert's pale lips lifted into a grin. "Plus, Feliciana's brother Lovino would kill me on the spot if I ever made her cry."

Berwald spoke up, his deep voice rumbling quietly. "Y' never told us why yer so close. Not all siblings are." Emotion sparked in Berwald's eyes for a moment, then disappeared.

"Guys, look! There's, like, a house!" Feliks shouted excitedly as he pointed to an average- looking log cabin.

"Oh zhank Gott," Gilbert said. " I zhink zhis is zhe undercover medical care vard mein bruder told me about."

"Wait, like, what?" Feliks asked.

"Ludvig me zhere vas an undercover medical vard a vays from his old station. It's neutral, it's only purpose is to help zhe vounded, no matter vhat side zhey're on."

"If it's undercover then how did yer brother know 'bout it?" Berwald asked.

"His plane vent down on a mission once," Gilbert explained. "Zhe medical vard routinely sends out search parties to look for zhe vounded vizhin a five mile radius."

"Then why the bloody hell didn't they find us?!" Arthur exclaimed.

"Ve vere roughly seven miles from here," the albino answered.

"I, like, totally knew it was more than a few miles!" Feliks said, dramatically pointing an accusing finger at Gilbert.

By this time they had reached the door of the cabin. Gilbert knocked. There was a shuffling noise heard inside, then the sound of the heavy wood door unlocking. There was a creak as it swung open, revealing a big man in a light pink scarf with ash-blonde hair and a smile on his face. His eyes were a strange hue of lavender and when he spoke it was with a heavy Russian accent.

"Hello," he said simply. His voice was high, almost as if he was speaking in a falsetto. "Do you need something?"

"Zhe volves of var are howling," Gilbert said cryptically.

"Zhe forest echoes their cries," the Russian replied. "Come in, we will help you."

The men filed in.

"Please forgive me. I needed to know you were not government. It is part of how we stay undercover. My name is Ivan. I am a doctor. I can help your friend," he said making a motion toward the currently unconscious Alfred over Berwald's shoulder.

Berwald stared silently at Ivan. A million thoughts were racing through his head. Could this be the man that had threatened Mathias? He met the description, however, Berwald was having difficulty believing that a man running a secret hospital would threaten a man's wife and baby son to force him to fight. But Mathias was his brother, and even if they had fought in the past, he was still one of the people Berwald trusted most. He decided to bide his time and wait for the right moment to question the doctor.


	4. Chapter 5

The time came sooner than he thought it would. After Ivan gave Alfred the medical assistance he desperately required, he introduced the people that helped him run and protect the hospital. Yekaterina and Natalya, his sisters, and Eduard, Toris, and Raivis, his nephews whom he had taking care of since their parents had gone missing in action a year ago.

Then he headed up a flight of stairs to go to his own room. Berwald followed him, silent as always. He felt the weight of his pistol in coat pocket as he stood outside the doctor's open door.

Berwald stepped inside the doctor's room while his back was turned and closed the door behind him. The hinges creaked, alerting the Russian to his presence. Ivan turned around sharply.

"Hello," he said, surprised. "You're one of Alfred's friends, da?"

Berwald nodded.

"Do you need something?" Ivan asked, his usual smile strained.

"I need y' t' answer some questions," Berwald stated.

"Okay," he said simply.

Berwald stepped closer, hoping to intimidate the man. He knew he had an intimidating presence, people had told him so on many different occasions. Standing at 6'3, proportionately muscled and wearing a perpetual glare, it was easy to see why. Ivan, however, unlike the others, was not affected by Berwald's advancement.

"D' y' know a man named M'thias?" Berwald inquired.

"Nyet," the doctor replied.

"Don't lie t' me, Doctor," Berwald said, his deep voice taking on a menacing tone.

Ivan put his hands up in a gesture of surrender, hoping to appease the bespectacled man before him.

"Why aren't y' fightin' in th' war?" Berwald inquired.

"I made a deal with a man to take my place so I could help the wounded."

Berwald's hand migrated down to his pocket, resting on his pistol, and none too subtly tracing it's outline against the fabric.

"Did th' deal involve lettin' th' man's wife 'n baby son live if he fought in yer place?"

The Russian's violet eyes darkened and he said nothing, giving Berwald all the answer he needed.

"That man is m' brother," Berwald said, his eyes narrowing. "If anythin' happens t' him or his family, yer gonna have that blood on yer hands. If that happens, I can assure y' that I'll have yer blood on m' hands."

The smile had dropped from Ivan's face as Berwald spoke.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt yer sisters or yer nephews. I have no grudge 'gainst them. Yer death will be painful enough fer them."

Berwald turned around and took a few paces toward the door, then stopped.

"Don't tell anyone 'bout this conversation or I will see t' it that whomever y' tell will be eliminated. This is a war, after all. No one will notice a few extra bodies."

Just as Berwald was going to leave the room, he stopped with his hand on the door frame and turned around to pierce Ivan with a deathly sea-green glare.

"Don't hurt m' brother unless y' want t' die."

With that, the tall man turned on his heel and exited the room to leave the doctor to process his words in shocked silence.


	5. Chapter 6

Berwald walked down the stairs, thinking over what he had just told Ivan. He wasn't a violent man by nature, but when it came to the few people that he loved dearly he would do anything to protect them, including threatening a man's life.

When Berwald returned to the lower level of the cabin, he immediately located the other men in his squad. Arthur was passed out in a chair next to Alfred's bed, Feliks was talking to one of Ivan's nephews, Toris, who was blushing heavily, and Gilbert was pacing the length of the room muttering to himself in German. The albino was the first to notice Berwald standing by the stairs and strode over to him.

"Vhere vere you?! You vere gone for 15 minutes, und as far as I know, it doesn't take zhat long to take a pee!" Gilbert said.

"I was talkin' t' the doctor," Berwald replied.

"Vhat'd he say?"

"It's none 'f yer business," Berwald said in a tone that left no room for arguement.

Gilbert eyed him suspiciously but said nothing, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall next to Alfred's bed.

"Blughh Mattie?" Alfred murmured.

Arthur jolted awake and put his hand on his little brother's shoulder.

"Alfred?" he said worriedly. "I'm here," Arthur choked up and draped himself over Alfred. "God, I love you, I thought you were going to die and I'd never see you again and Matthew would never talk to me and, Oh God, I-,"

Alfred interrupted him. 'Dude. . . ," He looked up at the Brit's teary eyes. "I love you too, bro," he said as he hugged Arthur back.

At that moment there was a loud pounding on the door. It startled them. The doctor descended from his quarters upstairs and was roughly halfway to the door before the pounding sounded again. Ivan hastened his pace and opened the door. A cold gust of air blew in, making the others shiver.

Ivan started to speak to the newcomers, but then he gasped and looked down down as his hands flew to his chest. He stumbled backwards a few steps, then fell, his violet eyes open wide in terror and one bloodied hand reaching for Yekaterina. Everyone stood still in shock before Yekaterina broke the spell and ran to her brother.

"Where's Natalia?" Ivan wheezed, squeezing his sister's hand tightly as he breathed his last breath.

Fat tears dripped from Yekaterina's face onto her brother's shoulder. "I don't know," she whispered.

"Oh you mean the girl guarding this place?" Ivan's killer said as he stepped past Ivan's body and Yekaterina.

"It was a shame to kill her really. She was quite pretty. Feisty too. Took down some of my men, and that isn't acceptable behavior."

"Who are you!?" Gilbert demanded.

"That isn't of importance at this moment."

The man motioned for the others outside to come in. They entered, roughly shoving a bound muscular blonde in front of them. Ivan's killer, presumably the leader, kicked the blonde in the back of the knees, forcing him into a kneeling position. The blonde glared daggers at him.

Gilbert gasped the moment the blonde entered the room. The blonde man looked up, and in that moment the two made eye contact. The message in those intense blue eyes was clear: Brother, don't endanger yourself for my sake. Gilbert gave a barely perceptible nod to show that he understood.

The albino crossed the room to stand before the leader. He looked to be of Japanese descent, with jet black hair and dark, slanted eyes.

"Vhat is your name?" Gilbert questioned.

"I am Kuro."

"Vhere did you find zhat man?"

"He was spying on our camp, a stakeout from the looks of it."

"How did you find him?"

"I was on patrol with 2 of my men. We heard sounds of a fight and went to see what it was- figured it was just a squabble between soldiers, but instead we found him. He put up quite a valiant struggle. Even managed to take out 3 of my men. We offered to let him join our side, we need someone with his skills in hand-to-hand combat and reconnaissance. He refused our offer, wouldn't even tell us his name. All in all, he's been quite troublesome, but as you can see, we eventually got him."

Gilbert's ruby eyes sparkled with barely contained fury as he stared, unintimidated, directly into Kuro's cold, dark eyes. Kuro smirked back at him, as if challenging Gilbert to do something. The albino spit at Kuro with a malicious glare, then turned sharply on his heel to walk back to his comrades.

"That's my brother!" Gilbert whispered fiercely to Berwald and Arthur.

"That bloody f- mm!" Berwald clapped his hand over Arthur's mouth, preventing what would've been the longest string of profanities ever uttered in human history.

Berwald's other arm was around Arthur's waist, restraining him as he tried to wriggle out of the other man's strong grip. It was absolute chaos around them. Yekaterina was on the floor, holding her dead brother and crying, Feliks and Toris clung to each other and trembled in fear, Eduard was trying to keep his siblings and Feliks from bursting out into tears (which really was not working because Raivis was bawling like a baby), and Alfred sat in his bed looking shocked and clueless.


	6. Chapter 7

Gilbert took advantage of the chaos to slip his hand into the pocket of Berwald's long blue coat and extract the man's pistol unnoticed.

The chaos ceased when a single gunshot was fired. Everyone stared first at Gilbert, who held the smoking gun in his pale trembling hands, then at Kuro, who had a look of absolute shock and disbelief on his face before he slumped to the ground with lifeless eyes.

The captive blonde man rose from his knees, his eyes staring right into Gilbert's soul. He took a few steps toward his brother before the heavy metal chain around his neck was pulled tight, temporarily choking him and preventing any further advancement.

The man who held the end of the chain stood behind Gilbert's brother. He was short, 5'6 at the tallest, and had long dark hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. He looked to be of Chinese heritage and when he soke his voice was high, higher than Ivan's had been. It almost sounded as if he hadn't hit puberty yet, although he looked to be at least 20. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Feliks struggled to hold in a giggle. The Chinese man smirked as he and Gilbert stared each other down from across the room.

Gilbert strode across the room and confronted the shorter man, aggressively yanking his brother's chain out of the other man's grip.

"I'm going to talk to zhis man upstairs," Gilbert stated.

"I'll come with you," Arthur offered.

"Nein. I need to do zhis alone."

The others eyed him strangely, but had no objections. The albino gestured for the Chinese man to follow as he walked toward the stairs, handing off his brother's chain to Berwald as he passed. As the Chinese man walked by he exuded such an aura of menace that even Alfred wasn't oblivious to it. Then he disappeared up the stairs after Gilbert, leaving them feeling powerless and scared.

Once Gilbert and the Chinese man were in what had been Ivan's quarters, Gilbert slammed the door and began to speak.

"So. . ." he paused to peer at the name monogrammed on the man's coat. "Wang, if zhat even is your name and you didn't steal zhis coat from some poor idiot you killed along zhe vay, vhat zhe HELL are you doing und how did you mein bruder involved in zhis!?" Gilbert questioned, his voice rising to a yell.

The albino's eyes burned as the man answered.

"Very clever. That is not my name, nor my jacket," the man said. "My name is Xiao." he smirked. "They say I have a temper," he stated as darkness flashed through his eyes. He sauntered over to Gilbert, who was still on guard. "You know, I'm glad Kuro's dead. I never liked the bastard," He turned his back on Gilbert and walked the other way. "But. . ." he turned around sharply, a wicked looking black leather whip in his hand. "I WAS SUPPOSED TO KILL HIM!" Xiao yelled as he rushed at Gilbert.

Gilbert jerked his arm up at the other man, but before he could fire the weapon, a stinging pain in his hand caused him to drop it. Xiao laughed, striking Gilbert's hand again with his whip as the albino dove for his weapon.

"Scheisse . . ." Gilbert muttered as Xiao's whip wrapped around his upper right arm.

Xiao's next strike snapped inches above Gilbert's head as he ducked and pulled out his hunting knife, cleverly concealed in his left combat boot. The albino shed his coat for a better range of motion so he could truly fight. Adrenaline rushed through his veins and he grinned wolfishly. Truth be told, Xiao wasn't the only one spoiling for a fight.

Gilbert pounced at Xiao, who deftly avoided the attack. Gilbert landed on the floor, taking a split second to recover, but that was all Xiao needed to brutally being his whip down on the albino's exposed back. Gilbert cried out sharply as a stark line of red appeared on his white undershirt. Gilbert was about to charge Xiao again when the door flew open with an angry bang to reveal a furios duo. Ludwig and Yekaterina stood in the doorway, eyes smoldering with emotions.


End file.
